All Ohioans will have the same voting hours for the upcoming governor’s
race, according to a directive issued yesterday by Secretary of State Jon Husted that sparked a
predictable disagreement over fairness.

Husted, a Republican, set early voting hours for the fall election from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
during the week and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the final two Saturdays before the Nov. 4 election. That
means there will be no in-person, early voting in the evenings, on Sundays or on the final two days
before Election Day.

Democrats argue that this unfairly restricts access for minorities and
others in large, urban counties. Republicans say all voters should have the same hours during which
to vote.

Similar arguments were made last week when Republican lawmakers
reduced early in-person voting by one week.

“In 2014, absentee voters will have the option of voting in person for four weeks, or they
can vote without ever leaving home by completing the absentee ballot request form we will be
sending all voters,” Husted said.

Because of GOP-backed legislation signed last week by Gov. John Kasich, Ohioans will have 29
days of early voting this fall instead of 35.

Husted was not required to set uniform hours statewide — he could have let counties choose
them on their own and break ties when county boards couldn’t agree. Instead, he adopted the plan
set forth by the Ohio Association of Elections Officials, which is a bipartisan organization.

Husted was required by federal courts in 2012 to restore early in-person voting on the final
three days before Election Day, based on a lawsuit filed by President Barack Obama’s campaign
because military voters were allowed to vote those days but nonmilitary Ohioans were not.

“The courts have previously spoken on this, but once again, our current secretary of state is
ignoring justice,” said Democratic state Sen. Nina Turner of Cleveland, who is running against
Husted for secretary of state this fall. She said “there is no justification for arbitrarily
denying the vast majority of Ohio voters’ access to open polling places.”

Of the 5.6 million Ohioans who voted in 2012, 1.8 million cast early ballots, and 600,500
cast early ballots in person.

Tim Burke, the Hamilton County Board of Elections chairman who also chairs the county’s
Democratic party, said, “On the Sunday before the 2012 election, our board of elections was
virtually surrounded by people waiting for three and more hours to vote.

“It was a clear demonstration of why preserving Sunday hours, especially in our large urban
counties, is critical.”

Delaware County Republican board member Shawn Stevens said in Husted’s news release yesterday
that “the hours ... capture the most fundamental element of election administration.”

“They are FAIR,” Stevens said in the release. “At the end of the day, we can argue over what
is best for a particular county board of elections or another, but that is not what this is about."

Also yesterday, Husted announced that three minor-party candidates filed for the May 6
primary as write-in candidates. Green Party gubernatorial candidate Anita Rios and Libertarians
running for auditor (Bob Bridges) and secretary of state (Kevin Knedler) all filed by Monday’s
deadline. To qualify for the general election, they need to gain at least 500 votes on the May
ballot.

Husted also set a hearing for Monday to hear protests filed against the petitions qualifying
Libertarian Charlie Earl for the gubernatorial primary and Libertarian Steve Linnabary for the
attorney general's primary race.

A previous version of this story listed the office Linnabary is running for incorrectly.